POAWPKL-MILO Cross Country 2011

Back shirt design

Muddy, dirty, long, treacherous, cardio-killer, lung incapacitating, head throbbing, limbs aching…okay okay that’s enough. Those are just some of the apt adjectives to describe the recent cross country last Sunday. Hitherto, this cross country and 3rd running event that I participated in was the toughest, craziest, and awesome-st.

Finally, a decent t-shirt design. Thumbs up!

Besides the usual road-curb combination in any run, this cross country run had a deadly combo of road, off-road, jungle, and park. The total distance of the run? 8.2 km, the longest distance in my record. But according to a friend a befriended in the run, he’s Nike sports band registered a 10km plus minus distance. I clocked in at 1 hour 4 minutes, also the longest time so far. Hmm, I actually thought I could finish in less than an hour, but oh well. Maybe it was due to my not running for some time and so having less stamina. So I didn’t bag any medal for this run, perhaps better luck next time. As usual, a certificate was given.

The usual cert.

Less than 8 minutes into the run, I was to stunned to see a jungle trail. It was kinda like a jungle trekking experience. There was nobody to blame but me for not studying the route beforehand. Perhaps I could’ve been more prepared, but surprises are always fun too aren’t they? This jungle trail greatly slowed down the runners. The muddied and bogged plus sometimes dangerous terrain of the jungle wasn’t doing any good to us runners. It was rather like an obstacle course for the gritty runners. Thankfully nobody got hurt or injured, as far as I’m concern.


The first to finish in my category completed the route in 38 minutes plus. What an achievement! Averagely, the time of the top runners’ are approximately 40 minutes. Runners from all over Malaysia can be seen, some with their luggage. I guess the aficionados don’t mind traveling all the way to KL just to participate in the run. These people must be really passionate about running.








The run was so tiring that I had hope each bend I took was the last bend and the finishing line would come into sight. Unfortunately, with every stride, the finishing line seemed more distant than ever, no thanks to the off road terrain, which was really a pain in the arse and leg. There were some really steep hills and slopes in stored for us runners. Some slopes were acutely angled more than 45 degrees. And there was even a flight of stairs we have to go through, which saw most runners just walking their way up.


These were obstacles that tested my limits. Somehow I managed to summon up my all to finish the run. Oh yeah! It was a great feeling of achievement.
I also met some nice and friendly people from this run. They are siblings who share the same passion – running.

Me and my new friends

Remember that 1 Malaysianist veteran from the previous runs. I’d mentioned about her before. Guess what? She participated in the run too, not a bit surprising. She has been religiously participating in all these runs. I personally have seen her in all the runs I took part in. Inspiring, really.

The woman from 1 Malaysia Koperasi Run

Picture with The Veteran

The female veteran runner dominated the POAWPKL-MILO cross country run. With the smaller than last time’s self made, hand-made banner, she conquered the jungle trek and off-road terrain, finishing the run with her banner without a dirty spot.


I also chatted with her a bit and found that she’s quite chatty. Apparently she started running quite late. She was definitely the oldest runner, but age is definitely not a factor for her.


Thanks for spreading inspiration and enthusiasm to all runners, dear auntie. Hope to see you and my new friends in the upcoming runs. Pssst, I heard that many runs are lined up after Chinese New Year. Gotta start building up my stamina.